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Updated 06/20/2017

 

Nuair’ chunnic mi’n tòs thu,
dheaninn do phòsadh
(I would have preferred thee at first, but not now Sir)

Here’s a tune that first appeared in William Gunn’s 1848 collection as a march.  It appears in 22 other tunebooks as a jig

The jig (Irish: port) is a form of lively folk dance in compound meter, as well as the accompanying dance tune.  The term jig was probably derived from the French giguer, meaning 'to jump' or the Italian giga.  It was known as a dance in 16th-century England, often in 12/8 time.  Later the dance began to be associated with music particularly in 6/8 time, and with slip jigs 9/8 time.

During the seventeenth century the dance was adopted in Ireland and Scotland, where it was widely adapted, and the jig is now most often associated with these countries. The jig is second in popularity only to the reel in traditional Irish dance; it is popular but somewhat less common in Scottish country dance music. 

In Irish step dance, there are light jigs, single and double jigs, ho jigs, treble jigs, straight and sand jigs.